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Emma Lazarus
| birth_place = New York City, New York | death_date = | death_place = New York City, New York }} Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) was a Jewish American poet born in New York City. She is best known for "The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; its lines appear on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of LibertyWatts, Emily Stipes. The Poetry of American Women from 1632 to 1945. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1977: 123. ISBN 0-292-76540-2 in 1912. The sonnet was solicited by William Maxwell Evarts as a donation to an auction, conducted by the "Art Loan Fund Exhibition in Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund for the Statue of Liberty" to raise funds to build the pedestal. p. 3: Auction event named as " Lowell says poem gave the statue "a raison e'tre;" fell into obscurity; not mentioned at statue opening; Georgina Schuyler's campaign for the plaque p. 45: Solicited by "William Maxwell Evert" presumably [[William M. Evarts|William Maxwell Evarts]] Lazarus refused initially; convinced by Constance Cary Harrison She was honored by the Office of the Manhattan Borough President in March of 2008 and was included in a map of historical sites related or dedicated to important women. http://www.mbpo.org/free_details.asp?ID=234 Life Lazarus was the fourth of seven children of Moshe Lazarus and Esther Nathan, Portuguese Sephardic Jews whose families had been settled in New York since the colonial period. She was related through her mother to Benjamin N. Cardozo, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. From an early age, she studied American and British literature, as well as several languages, including German, French, and Italian. Her writings attracted the attention of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He corresponded with her until his death. Literary career Lazarus wrote her own poems and edited many adaptations of German poems, notably those of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. She also wrote a novel and two plays. Her most famous work is "The New Colossus", which is inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus' close friend Rose Hawthorne Lathrop was inspired by "The New Colossus" to found the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. Lazarus began to be more interested in her Jewish ancestry after reading the George Eliot novel, Daniel Deronda, and as she heard of the Russian pogroms in the early 1880s. This led Lazarus to write articles on the subject. She also began translating the works of Jewish poets into English. In the winter of 1882, multitudes of destitute Ashkenazi Jews emigrated from the Russian Pale of Settlement to New York; Lazarus taught technical education to help them become self-supporting. She traveled twice to Europe, first in May 1885 after the death of her father in March and again in September 1887. She returned to New York City seriously ill after her second trip and died two months later on November 19, 1887, most likely from Hodgkin's lymphoma. She is known as an important forerunner of the Zionist movement. She argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland thirteen years before Theodor Herzl began to use the term Zionism.Yearning for Zion by Briana Simon (WZO Hagshama) Lazarus is buried in Beth-Olom Cemetery in Brooklyn. Publications * *In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport See also *List of U.S. poets References * Cavitch, Max. "Emma Lazarus and the Golem of Liberty," American Literary History 18.1 (2006), 1-28 * Eiselein, Gregory. Emma Lazarus: Selected Poems and Other Writings. USA: Broadview Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55111-285-X. * Jacob, H. E. The World of Emma Lazarus. New York: Schocken, 1949; New York: Kessing Publishers, 2007, ISBN 1-4325-1416-4. * Lazarus, Emma. Emma Lazarus: Selected Poems. USA: Library of America, 2005. ISBN 1-931082-77-4. * Moore, H. S. Liberty's Poet: Emma Lazarus. USA: TurnKey Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9754803-4-0. * Schor, Esther. Emma Lazurus. New York: Schocken, 2006. ISBN 0-8052-4216-3. Randomhouse.com * Young, B. R. Emma Lazarus in Her World: Life and Letters. USA: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1997. ISBN 0-8276-0618-4. Notes External links ;Poems *Selected Poetry of Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) at Representative Poetry Online. ;Books * ;About *Jewish Virtual Library: Emma Lazarus *Jewish Women's Archive: HISTORY MAKERS: Emma Lazarus, 1849 – 1887 *National Public Radio: Emma Lazarus, Poet of the Huddled Masses *Jewish-American Hall of Fame: Virtual Tour: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) *Dr. David P. Stern: Welcome to my World: Emma Lazarus ;Etc. *Emma Lazarus Memorial Near the Statue of Liberty Category:1887 deaths Category:1849 births Category:American poets Category:American feminists Category:American Jews Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish women writers Category:Jewish poets Category:American Sephardic Jews Category:Jewish feminists Category:American Zionists Category:American people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Category:American people of Portuguese descent Category:People from New York City Category:Statue of Liberty Category:19th-century poets Category:Poets